The King's School, Sydney
Encyclopedia
The King's School is an independent
Anglican
, day
and boarding school
for boys in North Parramatta
in the western suburbs of Sydney
, Australia
. Founded in 1831, it is Australia's oldest school and forms one of the nine "Great Public Schools" of New South Wales. Situated within a 300 acres (1.2 km²) site, Gowan Brae, it is widely regarded as one of Australia's most prestigious private schools. The School is listed in the Macquarie Dictionary
.
In the geographical heart of Sydney, the School has about 1,500 students from kindergarten to Year 12 and approximately 430 boarders from Years 5 to 12,making it one of the largest boarding schools in Australia. It is also Australia's oldest boarding school. .
The school is affiliated with the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
, the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia
(JSHAA), and the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA). It is a G20 School
and is a founding member of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (AAGPS).
In 2010 The Age
reported that The King's School ranked equal seventh among Australian schools, based on the number of alumni who had received a top Order of Australia
honour.
devised a plan for the establishment of grammar schools in New South Wales under the governorship of Sir Ralph Darling. The Duke of Wellington assisted in securing royal patronage, the text of which stated that with the authority of King George IV such schools would be named "The King's Schools". It is said, although no documentation exists, that royal sanction was granted by King William IV. Two schools were opened in 1832: the first in Pitt Street, Sydney, the other in George Street, Parramatta
, 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) inland. The former, opened in January, closed eight months later after the death of its first headmaster, while the Parramatta campus remained open under the stewardship of the Reverend Robert Forrest, who was appointed headmaster in 1831.
According to The King's School 1831–1981, on opening day, Monday 13 February 1832, with a handful of pupils. Forrest was paid a salary of £100 per annum, but it was inclusive of a land and housing grant. From fees of £28 and £8 per annum for boarders and day pupils respectively he was expected to maintain boarders and pay the salaries of his assistants, whose fees were £4 per annum for each pupil taught. According to an article in the Australian Historical Society Journal in 1903, enrolment reached over 100 pupils before the end of the first year.
By 1839, Forrest's health had deteriorated and he submitted his resignation. Ill-health caused the school to experience a rapid succession of headmasters in the following decade. Reverend William Clarke was appointed headmaster to replace Forrest, and Reverend John Broughton was appointed master in charge of boarders. Two years later Reverend W.W. Simpson became headmaster, but an epidemic of scarlet fever
in 1843 forced his reisgnation. Reverend James Walker, a notable botanist and classical scholar, succeeded Simpson, but ill health resulted in his resignation in December 1847.
In 1848 Forrest returned to the school, which had now had 60 pupils, but he was again forced to resign due to illness in September 1853. In July 1854, the Reverend Thomas Druitt was appointed headmaster and established military drill in April 1855, a compulsory subject overseen by W. Bamford. Druitt had been under the impression that his appointment was permanent and he refused to relinquish his position upon the arrival of his replacement, Reverend Frederick Armitage, in January 1855. It was not until the intervention of Bishop Frederic Barker
in May 1855 that Druitt agreed to stand down.
Under the helm of Armitage, the school experienced a protracted period of expansion in facilities and enrolments, due to his significant wealth derived which allowed him to pay for many of the improvements personally. The number of pupils increased to nearly 200, 150 of whom were boarders. Pupils studied for seven hours per day in summer and six hours in winter. As well as religious holidays, there were two official school holidays per year, including a mid-winter vacation from 15 June to 15 July, and a mid-summer vacation from 24 December to 31 January. In 1859 Armitage adopted school arms similar to those of The King's School Canterbury in England, which according to The King's School 1831–1981, was due to the erroneous assumption that the Australian school was named after the English one. He applied for leave in 1862 to attend to his ill wife and to obtain a mathematics degree at Cambridge University. He never returned. By the end of his tenure he had raised the standard and quality of education to a high level.
The acting headmaster appointed prior to Armitage's departure, L.J. Trollope, saw a drastic contraction in the number of pupils to just 10 by June 1864, resulting in the closure of the school. There are varying accounts as to the reasons underpinning the school's rapid and sudden decline, including the school's poor financial situation, the dilapidated buildings and competition from other schools, whilst The King's School 1831–1981 claims that it was a series of successive rainstorms causing the collapse of the schoolroom roof that forced its closure. Other accounts have blamed Armitage as lacking the discipline to continue as headmaster. The Australian Dictionary of Biography
argues that while the departure of Armitage was not ideal, "a headmastership devoid of endowment or guaranteed salary in a colonial school without a council or adequate financial support could hardly have been attractive to a scholarly English gentleman." The school reopened in January 1869 with the Rev. George Fairfowl Macarthur as Headmaster. Macarthur had been a pupil at The King's School during its early years.
King's senior school has a library within the Centre for Learning and Leadership, and separate buildings for visual arts, music, science, drama, PDHPE and industrial design and technology. The majority of academic proceedings occur within the precinct generally known as the "quadrangle" in which there are 35 classrooms, all equipped with audio-visual and computer facilities. The School theatre has recently been renovated, adding a drama complex which opened in June 2010.
Sporting facilities include 15 playing fields used for both cricket and rugby union
, 14 tennis courts, ten basketball courts (seven outdoor, three indoor), seven soccer fields, a 50–metre lap pool, a 25–metre swimming pool, a diving pool, and a gym under which there is an indoor rifle range. The Sports Centre, opened in 2007. includes two basketball courts, a weights room, and PDHPE classrooms. The school has a rowing facility in Putney
, on the Parramatta River
.
The extensive facilities of the school were subject to political scrutiny during the tenure of Prime Minister John Howard
, when the Australian Labor Party
criticised Federal grants to wealthy private schools. The controversy reached its apex during the 2004 Federal election in which Mark Latham
, Leader of the Opposition, launched a private school "hit list" that would have removed a significant proportion of private school funding. Latham was defeated at the election.
consisting of 14 houses for both day students and boarders. The boarding houses included Gowan Brae, Baker, Bishop Barker, Broughton, Forrest, Hake Harris, Macarthur and Waddy, and the day student houses include Britten, Burkitt, Dalmas, Kurrle, Macquarie and Wickham.
Recently, the school underwent a number of changes to the house system
, revolutionising and optimising the operations of the houses. The house system now consists of 6 day houses and 5 boarding houses. The boarding houses include Gowan Brae, Baker-Hake, Bishop Barker-Harris, Broughton-Forrest, , Macarthur-Waddy, and the day student houses include Britten, Burkitt, Dalmas, Kurrle, Macquarie and Wickham. The houses are hubs for students' recreational and pastoral activities.
Kurrle and Wickham were created as a result of an expansion in enrolments in 2001, and the remaining Houses have been in existence for several decades. Their names are derived from former Headmasters and Deputy Headmasters, the founder of the school (Broughton), and the traditional name of the school site (Gowan Brae).
has four houses – Stiles, Thomas, Blaxland and Harrison. Blaxland includes both boarders and day students, and boarders are housed within Gowan Brae, which is shared with Year 7 students. Each year there are competitions between the 4 houses like athletics competitions and swimming carnivals.
Gowan Brae serves as an intermediate step between primary and secondary schooling, allowing Year 7 students the opportunity to adapt to the unique institutions of the senior school while remaining within a common peer group of similar age.
is unique among Sydney schools, and is the oldest military uniform
still worn in Australia. It consists of navy blue trousers with a vertical red stripe, a white shirt, and a jacket made of a black and white woollen material, in a birdseye pattern. It has red cuffs and red tabs on each side of the collar. The cuffs and epaulets are each surmounted by a braided red "Lovers' Knot". The uniform reflects the military history of the school, and is similar to the blazers worn at the Battle of Waterloo
.
The jacket may be modified to show rank in the Australian Army Cadets
. All students except the monitors wear one badge on a red tab on the right collar of the jacket. House Monitors wear one badge each side and School Monitors wear one badge on each side with blue collar tabs. This is because students of lower rank would have carried rifles over one shoulder, thus damaging the additional badge, while monitors would instead be armed with pistols. All the buttons are silver colour.
In Years 11 and 12 students are allowed to wear a white pinstriped navy blue blazer (known as a Butchers Coat) or a sky-blue Honours blazer. Both blazers have pockets that may have special stitching commemorating academic or sporting achievements in the form of full or half colours. Outstanding achievement is rewarded by Honours colours and is signified by the sky blue blazer. The jacket and blazers must be worn with a standard black tie commemorating the death of Queen Victoria (though this was replaced in 2007 during the 175th anniversary by a navy blue silk tie, with the TKS crest and the number 175 scattered on it).
The Preparatory School uniform differs slightly from that of the senior school. Students from Kindergarten to Year 2 wear navy blue shorts with the vertical red stripe, knee-high black socks and a white pinstriped navy blue (Butchers Coat) blazer, with students from Year 3 to 6 wearing the same shorts and socks and a grey/red blazer.
The school produces at least one musical and two drama production each year. Productions have included Les Misérables
, The Pirates of Penzance
, South Pacific
, Guys and Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof
, My Fair Lady
, The Mikado
and Grease
.
The cadet corps has an annual passing-out parade, which commemorates the transferral of leadership and the unit colours from the Year 12 cadets to selected Year 11 cadets. It is usually presided over by a high-ranking member of the Australian Defence Force
and attracts an audience of thousands.
The King's School Marching Band is a central element of the cadet corps, providing the music to which the cadets march during the parade. The band consists of members of the Symphonic Concert Band and the Performing Band, and it marches annually at the ANZAC Day
Parade in central Sydney. Recently, Members from this band are required to be part of the Cadet Corps.
The school has two pipe organs
: a chapel organ in the Memorial Chapel and a baroque organ in Futter Hall.
The school has a Chamber String Orchestra for experienced players
The School has a main, non-auditioned choir for boys in the senior school and the auditioned Schola Cantorum (latin: meaning "school of singers"). Both choirs are 4-parts consisting of Trebles, Altos, Tenors, and Basses. In the prep school there are three choirs consisting of Trebles and Altos.
A number of small ensembles exist including piano trios, guitar ensembles, and a number of popular music bands (usually presented as part of the Music 1 Curricula course.
In rowing the school has won the GPS Head of the River
17 times, including in 2006 and 2007, and the Schoolboy VIII at the National Rowing Championships in 1982, 2001, and 2006. The school won the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup
at the Henley Royal Regatta
in 2001 and the Fawley Challenge Cup
in 2006. During the 2007 Head of the River
the school refused to allow the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority
(ASADA) to test its first eight rowing team, after reports that ASADA had forced students from the Sydney Church of England Grammar School rowing team to strip and give urine samples.
The rugby union 1st XV has won several GPS Premierships in recent years, including those in 1997-2000, 2002, 2008, and 2009. The team won the 2000 Sanix World Rugby Youth Tournament
in Japan. Current and recent Wallabies
Stirling Mortlock
, Benn Robinson
, Dean Mumm
, and Julian Huxley are former students of the school. Other former students including Ben Batger
, Daniel Halangahu
, Will Caldwell
, James Hilgendorf
, Ben Hand, Tom Carter
, Mitchell Chapman
, Hugh Perrett, Tim Davidson and Nick Phipps
play in the Super Rugby competition. Daniel Conn
plays rugby league for the Sydney Roosters
in the NRL.
In 2007, the cricket 1st XI secured their first GPS Premiership in 41 years, defeating Sydney Church of England Grammar School
by eight runs in the final round.
The King's School was undefeated at tennis premiers for 1st and 2nd grade tennis for 2009 and 2010.
In 2008, 2009 and 2010 The King's School won the Senior Athletics Premierships. In 2009 both Senior and Junior premierships were won in Athletics for the first time since 1931, 78 years. The King's School again repeated the 'Double Premiership' in Athletics in 2010 and for the first time in its history won back to back Senior and Junior Trophies. In 2011, For the first time in its history, The King's School has won a 'Triple-Double' in which three consecutive double premierships have been won, making the current time period the 'golden years' of King's Athletics. From 2000 - 2011 Kings have won the Senior trophy on seven occasions (2000, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) and the Junior Trophy three times (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011).
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
Anglican
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
, day
Day school
A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...
and boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
for boys in North Parramatta
North Parramatta, New South Wales
North Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. North Parramatta is located 24 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta...
in the western suburbs of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Founded in 1831, it is Australia's oldest school and forms one of the nine "Great Public Schools" of New South Wales. Situated within a 300 acres (1.2 km²) site, Gowan Brae, it is widely regarded as one of Australia's most prestigious private schools. The School is listed in the Macquarie Dictionary
Macquarie Dictionary
The Macquarie Dictionary is a dictionary of Australian English. It also pays considerable attention to New Zealand English. Originally it was a publishing project of Jacaranda Press, a Brisbane educational publisher, for which an editorial committee was formed, largely from the Linguistics...
.
In the geographical heart of Sydney, the School has about 1,500 students from kindergarten to Year 12 and approximately 430 boarders from Years 5 to 12,making it one of the largest boarding schools in Australia. It is also Australia's oldest boarding school. .
The school is affiliated with the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference is an association of the headmasters or headmistressess of 243 leading day and boarding independent schools in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and the Republic of Ireland...
, the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia
Junior School Heads Association of Australia
The Independent Primary School Heads of Australia formerly Junior School Heads Association of Australia , is an incorporated body representing the heads of independent primary schools in Australia....
(JSHAA), and the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA). It is a G20 School
G20 Schools
All the schools claim to have a commitment to excellence and innovation of some sort. The G20 Schools have an annual conference which aims to bring together a group of school Heads who want to look beyond the parochial concerns of their own schools and national associations, and to talk through...
and is a founding member of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (AAGPS).
In 2010 The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
reported that The King's School ranked equal seventh among Australian schools, based on the number of alumni who had received a top Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
honour.
History
In January 1830, the Archdeacon William Grant BroughtonWilliam Grant Broughton
William Grant Broughton was the first Bishop of Australia of the Church of England....
devised a plan for the establishment of grammar schools in New South Wales under the governorship of Sir Ralph Darling. The Duke of Wellington assisted in securing royal patronage, the text of which stated that with the authority of King George IV such schools would be named "The King's Schools". It is said, although no documentation exists, that royal sanction was granted by King William IV. Two schools were opened in 1832: the first in Pitt Street, Sydney, the other in George Street, Parramatta
Parramatta, New South Wales
Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...
, 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) inland. The former, opened in January, closed eight months later after the death of its first headmaster, while the Parramatta campus remained open under the stewardship of the Reverend Robert Forrest, who was appointed headmaster in 1831.
According to The King's School 1831–1981, on opening day, Monday 13 February 1832, with a handful of pupils. Forrest was paid a salary of £100 per annum, but it was inclusive of a land and housing grant. From fees of £28 and £8 per annum for boarders and day pupils respectively he was expected to maintain boarders and pay the salaries of his assistants, whose fees were £4 per annum for each pupil taught. According to an article in the Australian Historical Society Journal in 1903, enrolment reached over 100 pupils before the end of the first year.
By 1839, Forrest's health had deteriorated and he submitted his resignation. Ill-health caused the school to experience a rapid succession of headmasters in the following decade. Reverend William Clarke was appointed headmaster to replace Forrest, and Reverend John Broughton was appointed master in charge of boarders. Two years later Reverend W.W. Simpson became headmaster, but an epidemic of scarlet fever
Scarlet fever
Scarlet fever is a disease caused by exotoxin released by Streptococcus pyogenes. Once a major cause of death, it is now effectively treated with antibiotics...
in 1843 forced his reisgnation. Reverend James Walker, a notable botanist and classical scholar, succeeded Simpson, but ill health resulted in his resignation in December 1847.
In 1848 Forrest returned to the school, which had now had 60 pupils, but he was again forced to resign due to illness in September 1853. In July 1854, the Reverend Thomas Druitt was appointed headmaster and established military drill in April 1855, a compulsory subject overseen by W. Bamford. Druitt had been under the impression that his appointment was permanent and he refused to relinquish his position upon the arrival of his replacement, Reverend Frederick Armitage, in January 1855. It was not until the intervention of Bishop Frederic Barker
Frederic Barker
Frederic Barker was the second Anglican bishop of Sydney.- Early life :Barker was born at Baslow, Derbyshire, England, fifth son of the Rev. John Barker and his wife Jane, née Whyte. He was educated at The King's School, Grantham and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1831, M. A....
in May 1855 that Druitt agreed to stand down.
Under the helm of Armitage, the school experienced a protracted period of expansion in facilities and enrolments, due to his significant wealth derived which allowed him to pay for many of the improvements personally. The number of pupils increased to nearly 200, 150 of whom were boarders. Pupils studied for seven hours per day in summer and six hours in winter. As well as religious holidays, there were two official school holidays per year, including a mid-winter vacation from 15 June to 15 July, and a mid-summer vacation from 24 December to 31 January. In 1859 Armitage adopted school arms similar to those of The King's School Canterbury in England, which according to The King's School 1831–1981, was due to the erroneous assumption that the Australian school was named after the English one. He applied for leave in 1862 to attend to his ill wife and to obtain a mathematics degree at Cambridge University. He never returned. By the end of his tenure he had raised the standard and quality of education to a high level.
The acting headmaster appointed prior to Armitage's departure, L.J. Trollope, saw a drastic contraction in the number of pupils to just 10 by June 1864, resulting in the closure of the school. There are varying accounts as to the reasons underpinning the school's rapid and sudden decline, including the school's poor financial situation, the dilapidated buildings and competition from other schools, whilst The King's School 1831–1981 claims that it was a series of successive rainstorms causing the collapse of the schoolroom roof that forced its closure. Other accounts have blamed Armitage as lacking the discipline to continue as headmaster. The Australian Dictionary of Biography
Australian Dictionary of Biography
The Australian Dictionary of Biography is a national, co-operative enterprise, founded and maintained by the Australian National University to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's history....
argues that while the departure of Armitage was not ideal, "a headmastership devoid of endowment or guaranteed salary in a colonial school without a council or adequate financial support could hardly have been attractive to a scholarly English gentleman." The school reopened in January 1869 with the Rev. George Fairfowl Macarthur as Headmaster. Macarthur had been a pupil at The King's School during its early years.
Campus
The King's School originally rented premises in George Street, Parramatta near the wharves on Parramatta River. The school soon outgrew Harrisford House in George Street, and following submission to the Crown it was provided with land and premises a little further upriver in Parramatta, close to Government House. The school remained there for 130 years until it was vacated in August 1968 when it completed its relocation to Gowan Brae, a 300 acres (1.2 km²) site in North Parramatta that was the family residence and property of James Burns (shipowner), co-founder of Burns Philp and Company. Other sections of the property are now owned by the Redeemer Baptist School and Tara Anglican School for Girls, with some still owned by the NSW Synod of the Uniting Church as the Uniting Theological College. Another section was sold for residential development, now the suburb of Kingsdene.King's senior school has a library within the Centre for Learning and Leadership, and separate buildings for visual arts, music, science, drama, PDHPE and industrial design and technology. The majority of academic proceedings occur within the precinct generally known as the "quadrangle" in which there are 35 classrooms, all equipped with audio-visual and computer facilities. The School theatre has recently been renovated, adding a drama complex which opened in June 2010.
Sporting facilities include 15 playing fields used for both cricket and rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, 14 tennis courts, ten basketball courts (seven outdoor, three indoor), seven soccer fields, a 50–metre lap pool, a 25–metre swimming pool, a diving pool, and a gym under which there is an indoor rifle range. The Sports Centre, opened in 2007. includes two basketball courts, a weights room, and PDHPE classrooms. The school has a rowing facility in Putney
Putney, New South Wales
Putney is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located west-northwest of the Sydney central business district on the northern bank of the Parramatta River...
, on the Parramatta River
Parramatta River
The Parramatta River is a waterway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson, along with the smaller Lane Cove and Duck Rivers....
.
The extensive facilities of the school were subject to political scrutiny during the tenure of Prime Minister John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
, when the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
criticised Federal grants to wealthy private schools. The controversy reached its apex during the 2004 Federal election in which Mark Latham
Mark Latham
Mark William Latham , an author and former Australian politician, was leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005....
, Leader of the Opposition, launched a private school "hit list" that would have removed a significant proportion of private school funding. Latham was defeated at the election.
Senior school
Prior to 2011, the school had a house systemHouse system
The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...
consisting of 14 houses for both day students and boarders. The boarding houses included Gowan Brae, Baker, Bishop Barker, Broughton, Forrest, Hake Harris, Macarthur and Waddy, and the day student houses include Britten, Burkitt, Dalmas, Kurrle, Macquarie and Wickham.
Recently, the school underwent a number of changes to the house system
House system
The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...
, revolutionising and optimising the operations of the houses. The house system now consists of 6 day houses and 5 boarding houses. The boarding houses include Gowan Brae, Baker-Hake, Bishop Barker-Harris, Broughton-Forrest, , Macarthur-Waddy, and the day student houses include Britten, Burkitt, Dalmas, Kurrle, Macquarie and Wickham. The houses are hubs for students' recreational and pastoral activities.
Kurrle and Wickham were created as a result of an expansion in enrolments in 2001, and the remaining Houses have been in existence for several decades. Their names are derived from former Headmasters and Deputy Headmasters, the founder of the school (Broughton), and the traditional name of the school site (Gowan Brae).
Preparatory school
The preparatory schoolUniversity-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
has four houses – Stiles, Thomas, Blaxland and Harrison. Blaxland includes both boarders and day students, and boarders are housed within Gowan Brae, which is shared with Year 7 students. Each year there are competitions between the 4 houses like athletics competitions and swimming carnivals.
Gowan Brae serves as an intermediate step between primary and secondary schooling, allowing Year 7 students the opportunity to adapt to the unique institutions of the senior school while remaining within a common peer group of similar age.
Uniform
The school uniformSchool uniform
A school uniform is an outfit—a set of standardized clothes—worn primarily for an educational institution. They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries . When used, they form the basis of a school's dress code.Traditionally school uniforms have been largely subdued and...
is unique among Sydney schools, and is the oldest military uniform
Military uniform
Military uniforms comprises standardised dress worn by members of the armed forces and paramilitaries of various nations. Military dress and military styles have gone through great changes over the centuries from colourful and elaborate to extremely utilitarian...
still worn in Australia. It consists of navy blue trousers with a vertical red stripe, a white shirt, and a jacket made of a black and white woollen material, in a birdseye pattern. It has red cuffs and red tabs on each side of the collar. The cuffs and epaulets are each surmounted by a braided red "Lovers' Knot". The uniform reflects the military history of the school, and is similar to the blazers worn at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
.
The jacket may be modified to show rank in the Australian Army Cadets
Australian Army Cadets
The Australian Army Cadets is a youth organisation that is involved with progressive training of youths in military and adventurous activities. The programme has more than 19,000 Army Cadets between the ages of 12½ and 19 based in 236 units around Australia...
. All students except the monitors wear one badge on a red tab on the right collar of the jacket. House Monitors wear one badge each side and School Monitors wear one badge on each side with blue collar tabs. This is because students of lower rank would have carried rifles over one shoulder, thus damaging the additional badge, while monitors would instead be armed with pistols. All the buttons are silver colour.
In Years 11 and 12 students are allowed to wear a white pinstriped navy blue blazer (known as a Butchers Coat) or a sky-blue Honours blazer. Both blazers have pockets that may have special stitching commemorating academic or sporting achievements in the form of full or half colours. Outstanding achievement is rewarded by Honours colours and is signified by the sky blue blazer. The jacket and blazers must be worn with a standard black tie commemorating the death of Queen Victoria (though this was replaced in 2007 during the 175th anniversary by a navy blue silk tie, with the TKS crest and the number 175 scattered on it).
The Preparatory School uniform differs slightly from that of the senior school. Students from Kindergarten to Year 2 wear navy blue shorts with the vertical red stripe, knee-high black socks and a white pinstriped navy blue (Butchers Coat) blazer, with students from Year 3 to 6 wearing the same shorts and socks and a grey/red blazer.
Cocurricular activities
Cocurricular activities offered by the school include debating, choir, theatre, bands and ensembles, sport, and the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. Senior intellectual clubs (The Twelve Club, The Cartesian Club, the Scipionic Circle) are also active.The school produces at least one musical and two drama production each year. Productions have included Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
, The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
, South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
, Guys and Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
, My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
, The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
and Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
.
Academic clubs
The headmaster, deputy headmaster, and other senior staff host intellectual clubs composed of promising senior students. The clubs include the Twelve Club hosted by the headmaster, The Cartesian Club hosted by the deputy headmaster, and The Scipionic Circle hosted by the director of studies. The members of these clubs are usually selected as a result of their success in areas of academics or leadership activities.Debating
The preparatory school competes in the JSHAA and ISDA debating competitions, and the senior school in the GPS and ISDA competitions. The school won the ISDA competition, the largest independent schools competition in NSW, for the first time in 2004. The school was represented by national and world championship winning representative teams in 2004.Cadet corps
The cadet corps is the oldest, and largest, in Australia. All students in Years 8 and 9 are required to undertake cadetships in which they are taught survival techniques, abseiling, shooting, map reading, marching, and other skills. Each year a corps camp is held at the Singleton Defence Force Base.The cadet corps has an annual passing-out parade, which commemorates the transferral of leadership and the unit colours from the Year 12 cadets to selected Year 11 cadets. It is usually presided over by a high-ranking member of the Australian Defence Force
Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and a number of 'tri-service' units...
and attracts an audience of thousands.
The King's School Marching Band is a central element of the cadet corps, providing the music to which the cadets march during the parade. The band consists of members of the Symphonic Concert Band and the Performing Band, and it marches annually at the ANZAC Day
ANZAC Day
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all...
Parade in central Sydney. Recently, Members from this band are required to be part of the Cadet Corps.
Music
The school has a music program that caters for a range of musical abilities, held in the Sesquicentenary music building. Music at The King's School forms part of the curricula and co-curricula programmes.The school has two pipe organs
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
: a chapel organ in the Memorial Chapel and a baroque organ in Futter Hall.
Curricula Programme
Year 7 students complete the mandatory 100–hour Board of Studies (NSW) music course, which introduces them to basic concepts of music in a variety of styles. Year 7 boys participate in a singing program and undertake a theory exam toward the end of the year. As part of the Year 8-10 elective programme, students can continue to study music in these years. They are required to learn an instrument as part of this course and regular performance assessments take place. For the HSC, students can continue their music studies in either the Music 1 or Music 2 Courses. Music 1 and 2 cover a variety of music styles, however, the Music 2 course has a focus on Western Art Music.Co-Curricula Programme
The Performing Band is a wind ensemble that caters for beginning to intermediate musicians studying Grade 4 Trinity Guildhall/AMEB and lower performing a range of symphonic and popular film music. The Symphonic Concert Band is the School's auditioned Band and is composed of musicians typically Grade 5 and above. The Marching Band includes members of the Senior Concert Band and selected members of the Performing Band. The school features three Stage Bands, the most prestigious being the Senior Stage Band. These bands perform jazz and big band pieces at many functions including outside the school community.The school has a Chamber String Orchestra for experienced players
The School has a main, non-auditioned choir for boys in the senior school and the auditioned Schola Cantorum (latin: meaning "school of singers"). Both choirs are 4-parts consisting of Trebles, Altos, Tenors, and Basses. In the prep school there are three choirs consisting of Trebles and Altos.
A number of small ensembles exist including piano trios, guitar ensembles, and a number of popular music bands (usually presented as part of the Music 1 Curricula course.
Instrumental Lessons
Full- and half-period instrumental lessons are offered in piano, pipe organ, guitar, violin, viola, violoncello, contrabass, tuba, horn, trombone, trumpet, saxophone, flute, clarinet, percussion (orchestral and drum-kit), and voice. The school has a variety of music tutors that specialise in all fields.Regular Concerts and Events
The Music Department conducts a number of regular events each year including: The Annual Festival of Lessons and Carols, Evening of Excellence, Ensembles Concerts, and studio recitals for individual performances. Most events are held in the Recital Room (part of the Sesquicentenary music building) or Futter Hall.Sport
Sport is compulsory for all students. In the Senior School students must participate in either rugby union, association football, or cross country in winter and rowing, cricket, basketball, tennis or swimming in summer. If personally selected by the sportsmaster, students may represent the school at shooting outside their regular sporting commitments. Students may participate in a sport in which they have achieved excellence (deemed by the sportsmaster). Cricket, rugby union, association football, teeball, tennis, and softball are available at the prep school. The school engages in these sports as a member of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales(GPS) with other schools: Saint Ignatius' College, St Joseph's College, Sydney High School, Sydney Grammar School, Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Shore), Newington College, The Scots College and The Armidale School.In rowing the school has won the GPS Head of the River
Head of the River (Australia)
The Head of the River is a name given to annual Australian rowing regattas held in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia...
17 times, including in 2006 and 2007, and the Schoolboy VIII at the National Rowing Championships in 1982, 2001, and 2006. The school won the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup
Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup
The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup is a rowing event at Henley Royal Regatta open to school 1st VIIIs.-History:The event was instituted in 1946 for public schools in the United Kingdom...
at the Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...
in 2001 and the Fawley Challenge Cup
Fawley Challenge Cup
The Fawley Challenge Cup is a rowing event for junior boys' quadruple sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to those who have not attained 19 years of age by the end of the Regatta and is open to crews from both clubs and...
in 2006. During the 2007 Head of the River
Head of the River (New South Wales)
The Head of the River rowing regatta refers to two New South Wales school rowing competitions, one for boys and one for girls.-NSW Schoolboy Head of the River Regatta:...
the school refused to allow the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority
Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority is a government department tasked to protect Australia's sporting integrity through the elimination of doping....
(ASADA) to test its first eight rowing team, after reports that ASADA had forced students from the Sydney Church of England Grammar School rowing team to strip and give urine samples.
The rugby union 1st XV has won several GPS Premierships in recent years, including those in 1997-2000, 2002, 2008, and 2009. The team won the 2000 Sanix World Rugby Youth Tournament
Sanix World Rugby Youth Tournament
The Sanix World Rugby Youth Invitational Tournament is a prestigious international rugby union tournament for 15-a-side youth teams which is held every year during the Golden Week holidays in Fukuoka prefecture, Japan...
in Japan. Current and recent Wallabies
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
Stirling Mortlock
Stirling Mortlock
Stirling Austin Mortlock is an Australian professional rugby union player. He has scored over 1,000 points in Super Rugby, and nearly 500 test points for the Wallabies. Mortlock is a former Wallaby and Brumbies captain, and the current captain of the Melbourne Rebels.-Early life:Mortlock began...
, Benn Robinson
Benn Robinson
Benn Robinson is an Australian rugby union footballer. He currently plays for the New South Wales Waratahs in the international Super Rugby competition.-Career:...
, Dean Mumm
Dean Mumm
Dean Mumm is an Australian Rugby player currently playing for the NSW Waratahs in the Super Rugby competition.-Amateur career:...
, and Julian Huxley are former students of the school. Other former students including Ben Batger
Ben Batger
Ben Batger, is a rugby union player for the New South Wales Waratahs in the Super 14 competition. Ben has also played for the ACT Brumbies and for Hawkes Bay in the NZ provincial competition, the Air New Zealand Cup. He plays as a fullback or on the wing. Batger played for Pro Recco in...
, Daniel Halangahu
Daniel Halangahu
Daniel Halangahu is a professional rugby union player for the New South Wales Waratahs in the Super Rugby competition. He plays primarily as a five eighth.-Personal life:Halangahu was born 6 March 1984 in Belmont, New South Wales. He is of Tongan descent....
, Will Caldwell
Will Caldwell
Will Caldwell is an Australian rugby union footballer who currently plays for the New South Wales Waratahs in the international Super 14 competition as a lock.-Career:...
, James Hilgendorf
James Hilgendorf
James Hilgendorf, is a rugby union professional who plays for the Melbourne Rebels in the Super Rugby competition. His usual position is fly-half, but he can also play in the centres or at fullback.-Early career:...
, Ben Hand, Tom Carter
Tom Carter (rugby union)
Tom Carter is an Australian rugby union player for the New South Wales Waratahs. He plays inside centre and made his Super 14 debut in 2008.He attended Knox Grammar School and The King's School, playing in the Knox 1st XV from 1999 to 2000.-References:...
, Mitchell Chapman
Mitchell Chapman
Mitchell Chapman also Mitch, Mark, Chappo, Horse is an Australian Rugby Union player for the ACT Brumbies in the international Super 14 competition. Chapman usually plays at the position of Blindside Flanker but can also cover the Second Row and Number 8...
, Hugh Perrett, Tim Davidson and Nick Phipps
Nicholas Phipps (rugby)
Nick Phipps is a national representative rugby union footballer who currently plays for the Melbourne Rebels in the Super 15 competition.-Super 15:...
play in the Super Rugby competition. Daniel Conn
Daniel Conn
Daniel William Conn is an Australian model and rugby league player for the Sydney Roosters club in the National Rugby League...
plays rugby league for the Sydney Roosters
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
in the NRL.
In 2007, the cricket 1st XI secured their first GPS Premiership in 41 years, defeating Sydney Church of England Grammar School
Sydney Church of England Grammar School
Sydney Church of England Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
by eight runs in the final round.
The King's School was undefeated at tennis premiers for 1st and 2nd grade tennis for 2009 and 2010.
In 2008, 2009 and 2010 The King's School won the Senior Athletics Premierships. In 2009 both Senior and Junior premierships were won in Athletics for the first time since 1931, 78 years. The King's School again repeated the 'Double Premiership' in Athletics in 2010 and for the first time in its history won back to back Senior and Junior Trophies. In 2011, For the first time in its history, The King's School has won a 'Triple-Double' in which three consecutive double premierships have been won, making the current time period the 'golden years' of King's Athletics. From 2000 - 2011 Kings have won the Senior trophy on seven occasions (2000, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) and the Junior Trophy three times (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011).
Alumni
Alumni are known as Old Boys.See also
- List of non-government schools in New South Wales
- List of boarding schools
- Tudor House SchoolTudor House SchoolTudor house School, is a private, day and boarding, preparatory school for boys, located in Moss Vale, New South Wales, Australia.The school is Australia's only preparatory boarding school, marketing itself as "a school that understands boys and where the joy of boyhood experiences is...
- New South Wales Rugby UnionNew South Wales Rugby UnionThe New South Wales Rugby Union is the organisation responsible for the sport of rugby union in most of the state of New South Wales, Australia...